Edna Rae Gillooly was born on 7 December 1932, in Detroit, Michigan USA, of French, Irish, Dutch, and Canadian descent. As Ellen Burstyn, she became an actress best known for being a part of numerous theatre productions, films and television series; she was nominated for an Academy Award for her performance in “The Last Picture Show”, similarly for her performance in “The Exorcist”. All of her efforts have helped put her net worth to where it is today.
How rich is Ellen Burstyn? As of early-2017, sources inform us of a net worth that is at $15 million, mostly earned through success in acting. She won an Academy Award for her performance in “Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore”, and a Tony Award for her involvement in the production “Same Time, Next Year”. All of these achievements ensured the position of her wealth.
Ellen Burstyn Net Worth $15 million
Burstyn attended Cass Technical High School, however she dropped out during her senior year after failing her classes. She then got work as a model for a department store, and continued working in that manner travelling around several cities in the United States. In 1955 she appeared as a dancing girl in “The Jackie Gleason Show”, and then decided to become an actress under the name “Ellen McRae,” before changing it to Burstyn after her third marriage.
In 1957, Ellen made her debut on Broadway, and joined The Actors Studio. She would win a Tony Award for her performance in “Same Time, Next Year” on stage in 1975, but was concurrently making frequent guest appearances in various TV shows, such as “Perry Mason” , “The Virginian”, “Ben Casey”, and “77 Sunset Strip” – in 1968 she even starred in her own sitcom entitled “The Ellen Burstyn Show”, however it was cancelled after one season.
Her net worth was starting to increase significantly, including from her film appearances, and in 1971 she received an Academy Award nomination for her performance in “The Last Picture Show”. Two years later she received another nomination for her performance in “The Exorcist”, and eventually she would win an Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance in the Martin Scorsese film “Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore”. Over the next few years she would receive around three more nominations..
In 1990, Burstyn would win the Sarah Siddons Award thanks to her work in theatre. A decade later, she would appear in the drama “That’s Life” before starring in the series “The Book of Daniel”. She also appeared in the film “The Fountain” and later had a recurring role in the HBO series “Big Love”. She won a Primetime Emmy Award thanks to her guest appearance in the series “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit”. A few of her latest projects include Christopher Nolan’s “Interstellar”, and the film “The Age of Adaline”.
For her personal life, it is known that Ellen married Bill Alexander, and that their marriage ended in divorce in 1957. The following year she married Paul Roberts, but they divorced in the same year. Her next marriage would be in 1964 to Neil Nephew and it was problematic, eventually ending in divorce in 1967, and which she talked about in the autobiography “Lessons in Becoming Myself”. Ellen also acknowledges that she identifies with numerous faiths.
Aside from her acting work, Ellen is a part of numerous organizations and projects. She is a former president of the Actors’ Equity Association, and is part of the Board of the Jefferson Awards for Public Service. She is also co-president of the Actors Studio, and has been inducted into the Michigan Women’s Hall of Fame.
